Another great job Wal-Mart!

If I caught anyone shoplifting at the Wal-mart I work at, I'll spank
them then haul them off to security no matter if they are 12 year old
girls or not.

You must be one of those two girls who were shoplifting. I believe you
were shoplifting and as a loyal Wal-Mart employee, I commend those
security guards for stopping you and your evil friend from plundering
Wal-Mart.

Well now, there's a very easy method to avoid having to deal with
store security.

1. Don't shoplift
2. If you do, don't run away or fight when you get pursued.

I'm calling Shenanigans on this one.If you're going to lie, at least
make it believable. I have a hard time believing that Wal-Mart would
beat up a couple girls over $2 worth of makeup, especially with lots
of people as witnesses.

The fact that you are making excuses for these two girls (who, for all
you know, could have been stealing a lot more than $2 worth of makeup
here and there in the past), really makes me wonder if you like to
treat yourself to five-finger discounts yourself.

sounds klike you are a shoplifter yourself. I work for wal-mart and if
I caught some one shoplifting, even if they are 12, I'll drag them to
the manager's office, yell at them, and have them arrested. Stop
spoiling your kid and kids who break the law and show wal-mart some
respect.

That is a great job I'm sure you wouldn't be complaining about the
treatment if it was an adult. Do YOU like paying the higher prices
for shoplifters? And even if it was just a lipstick who knows what
else they have stolen or what they will steal next? Hopefully they
scared them out of doing it ever again. I guess as a fellow
shoplifter you feel bad for them? HONEST people think that's the way
to handle it, no excuses.

Sounds like they got what they deserved. How do you know they were
minors? Wal-Mart gets ripped off frequently where I live and you
always see the police there. They have a right to protect their
property. They are a business who has to pay for their merchandise
that they sell like everyone else. If everyone stole a 2 dollar
lipstick (lipstick is alot more than that unless it's the dollar
store) then it would amount to alot of money. I would much rather see
them humiliated and yelled at like they deserved and learn their
lesson now than keep up the crime and end up in the big house for
years to come later on and have a criminal record follow them around
the rest of their days.

i've got news for you buddy, shoplifting is stealing and stealing is
stealing and it is wrong and illegal. It doesn't matter if it's a car
or a lipstick. Walmart was totally correct. I hope they scared those
girls into never stealing again because that is precisely what
happened to me when i was 11. I was caught stealing a 50 cent
magazine (late 1960's) at a grocery store. They grabbed me at the
door, called my parents and the police. They declined to press
charges but i was banned from the store and i had to look at the faces
of my parents who had tried so hard to raise me not to do this sort of
thing. I felt like i had slapped them in the face and metaphorically
speaking, i had. Now that i am 49 i thank heaven for the store
employee who caught me, the police and my parents. I was literally
scared straight. I've never stolen so much as a piece of gum since.
Hopefully they scared the crap out of those girls the way i was and
they'll never steal again either. Also, i don't know of any two
dollar lipstick at Walmart of any other store except the Dollar Store.
But that's irrelevant. Stealing a dollar item is still stealing.
You'd do your son a service by teaching him that there is NO
acceptable dollar amount to break the law over.

So, if someone came to your home, and then tried to walk out with your
stuff, you would be 'nice' about it? Where do you live?

If you did that and the shoplifting went to court they would make sure
your kids got the worst punishment the court can give. It could be
juvenile hall, your best thing would be to do that after your kids
court date.

When is the rest of the world going to wake up and quit shooping at
WalMart? Are the few pennies you might save worth the horrible service
and merchandise? Come on.

Just wondering... did anyone stick around or call the cops or offer to
make sworn statements as to what they witnessed? Or did they just mind
their own business and go on their way, not needing to write a
sarcastic letter after the fact feeling somwhat justified that they
got every little detail absolutely correct? You did record or write
notes as you witnessed it? Its what reporters always do.

Perhaps your notes could be of use when these girls get booked. Many
judges make first time offenders do wild and neat stuff. Wear sandwich
boards announcing that they stole, community service, speeches to six
year old children who can't tell the difference from what is right or
wrong. Or maybe six year olds deserve the same treatment in the eyes
of others who witnessed this.

It takes quite a bit of force to jolt someone, even a tiny someone,
completely out of their sandals. So, the next time you go there, if
they're still open, make sure your child is very close to you...just
in case he slips a matchbox car in his pocket and gets the same
results.

I'm sure your sarcasm and joy would soon evaporate...and
ahhh...there's the rub. Those evil girls were once six year old
children with parents. So the parents do share some of the blame for
the evil youth of today. Especially those who watch it and do nothing.
Imagine you horror seeing junior yanked out of his sandels hauled away
etc etc etc and having others say "let this be a lesson to them""they
must deserve it" "where are the parents?" All justifiable because
stealing of any kind is wrong.

There are much better ways to handle these situations wether it
warrents it or not. Simple hancuffs and being circled by a posse of
300 lb adults should suffice. A 911 call and reports taken. But we
need to see a simple wrong act met with excessive force and smug
indifference.

I did a stupid thing as a 9 year old. Yes, I technically stole. I
picked up a pack of gum, saw another that I wanted instead, and as I
reached for my change holder, I released the gum into my pocket and
paid for the other one.(thats the truth, my story and I'm sticking to
it) I didn't mean to steal it was a simple mistake. I walked out. No
one tackled me etc. I realized what happened, walked back in the store
to make it right, and I was immediately seated on a stool and
carefully watched by a waitress and cashier, they were even kind
enough to give me a small cup of soda seeing how upset and nervous I
was. the cops were called, my parents had to come home from work to
pick me up at the police station. I learned a valuable lesson. Next
time it happens...just say nothing and walk away.

But to this day I'm very careful with transactions so I guess on some
level, it did work. And my feet never once left my shoes nor was I
humiliated, tackled from behind, forced to the ground and manhandled.
This was 1967 and the world was a little different then.

You write a letter in a COMPLETELY sarcastic tone, and yet, you can't
take our comments...maybe next time you write a letter, you should not
make it public???


Reminds me of the boy who cried wolf.





Oh, and I completely agree with other posters. The girls friggin'
stole something. I dont care if it was penny candy. Its still
driving the costs up for me because they were stupid and decided that
they don't have to pay for things. A two dollar item is actually
worth four dollars missing to the company - two dollars in the actual
item, to which their inventory doesnt have and then the sales money
they loose when someone comes in, looking for that item, and the
company doesnt have any to sell to them legitimately.

Jackie, I think if you had just simply stated the story and your
feelings, people might have been more sympathetic.

I'm sorry but your poor attempt at satire, poor spelling and bad
grammar drastically takes away any serious thought about the subject.
No wonder people are doubting you.

To the heart of the matter; if the girls were treated as badly as you
claim, Wal-Mart will have their parents to answer to. But did it ever
occur to you that all their yelling and screaming and other dramatics
were to evoke sympathy from onlookers such as yourself? Can you really
prove they were being physically hurt in front of a whole store full
of people?

In any case stealing is wrong. If the girls came to your house and
took $2.00 worth of your belongings or $2,000 you would be outraged
and demand justice.Why should Wal Mart be any different? I am no fan
of Wal Mart but I would defend their actions against criminals. Yes
criminals. Stealing is a criminal act and that is what these girls,
who were old enough to know better, were preforming when they stole
the merchandise.

If you do the crime, be prepared to do the time. And that includes
kids who are old enough to know better.

So Jackie, how do you know ALL of this information about this
incident? Are you the parent of one of the girls, or know the parent
of one of the girls? How else would you know everything about the
situation unless you stood there during the whole ordeal and watched?

So it may have been a $2 thing of lipstick, but how do you know these
girls haven't been stealing for quite sometime, and that time is when
Wal-mart finally decided to catch them on it?

If you are just a nosey bystander, don't write like you know all the
facts. It isn't your business, stay out of it.

You know... it probably wasn't entirely necessary to use as much force
as they did, but I bet those girls will never shoplift again. Whether
it's a $2.00 lipstick, or a DVD or whatever, it's still stealing, and
I don't think the "kids will be kids" attitude you're displaying is
any excuse. Shoplifting results in the same increased costs for the
store (and therefore to the customers) whether it's a 90 pound
teenaged girl or a 200 pound grown man. And if their parents do try to
sue, I hope they get laughed out of the courtroom.

You would be pleased to know that the Wal-Mart in that small town in
the South I lived in for too long also has a Greeter. This one will
actually run after you if she isn't at her post and you make it
outside the door, and is not afraid to grab anyone.

Good lord. Never write satire again. My eyes are bleeding.

I have heard that Wal Mart employees can sometimes go a little
overboard.
I don't understand them. My husband and I went to Wal Mart recently
and bought several large items, a marine battery, an infant car seat,
a bouncer, and a 27" tv. All of this merchandise was paid for in
electronics.
Upon leaving, we bypassed the front checkouts completely and walked
out the door, with the greeter nodding at us as we walked out of the
store.

Another time, same location, I was grocery shopping. I had a case of
soda in the cart that was obviously not bagged. As I left the store,
the greeter ran over to where I was walking and jumped out in front of
me, almost getting run over by my cart in the process. She then
demanded to see my receipt, due to the sodas not being in a bag.

So I guess what I am trying to say here is:
If you are going to rip something off from Wal Mart, go for the big
items. They are too busy trying to protect $2.00 lipsticks and $3.00
cases of Coke.

If the girls were treated as roughly as you claim, then that's going
overboard. Otherwise, I love that they may have been "scared
straight." I never shoplifted as a teenager: the fear of getting
caught was enough to keep me in line (and the ass beating I would have
gotten at home helped).

I once caught two teenage girls smashing glass bottles on my street
one night. I ran out, got one in a headlock, my neighbor Romeo (real
name!) grabbed the other and we scared the crap out of them. They
were crying and scared you-know-what-less. We never saw them on our
street again.

I got caught doing something very dangerous (long story) when I was
four. My parents' neighbor, Tom Long (Hi, Tom!) caught me (and the
other kids) and the others got away, but he grabbed my by my arm and
spanked my ass the whole way home to my parents' house. My mother
thanked him. I ended up with pnemonia and spent a week in the
hospital.

Ideally, kids shouldn't be spanked or treated rough physically. But
sometimes, a kid just needs a whap on the ass.

Well if you are telling the truth and what you said really happened, I
am sure they will never shotlift again.

If this situation was as you say it is, then Wal-Mart is in deep
trouble.

Firts of all, we are speaking of two minors. The security guards ARE
NOT allowed to touch them. If they run away, all the security guards
can do is look to see which direction they ran or to take down a
license plate number. Hasn't anyone ever heard of the 4th ammendment
- illegal search and seizure? Even the cops can't search them unless
they are physically put under arrest or have given concent (which a
minor can't do anyway).

As far as being "scared" into not stealing again - I would like to
counter that it might have scared them by 360 degrees. In other
words, if all this is true, their parents are going to sue for big
bucks and they are going to think that stealing is worth it! This
isn't Saudia Arabia people! Security can't chop off their hand. This
also is Singapore - we don't do public caning!

Yes, they were stealing. But don't break one law to inforce
another!!!

I call extreme exaggeration, if not outright shenanigans.

You stood by and watched several adult males and at least one female
attack two pre-teens. Bravo.

I smell shenanigans. Mostly because I doubt that people would have
stood and around simply watched this happen, with the girls crying and
whimpering. I think Jackie is exaggerating just a wee bit.

Shoplifting is a crime. The guards had no way of knowing what they
stole or what else the girls would have had about their person, hence
the holding of the arms while the FEMALE greeter searched them. After
being a teacher in the public schools for several years, I am no
longer shocked by the things kids will do and/or carry, including
guns, mace and knives.

If the story you are telling has even a grain of truth in it, then
perhaps the guards were a bit over the top in their handling of the
situation, but tell me, would you be saying the same thing if the
shoplifters had been teenage boys instead of girls? Bit of a double
standard there.

So when you saw these two children being bruised and injured by a
pack of adults, you immediately went over to try to stop it or called
the police for them..... right?

"Excessive use of force... bodily injury... bruises..." Of course
you called the police immediately. No one would just sit there and
watch that severe brutality on two sweet innocent children without
trying to do something to stop it.

Unless of course it wasn't excessive... just security detaining
shoplifters by holding their arms. The teenagers wouldn't in a million
years think to cry or yell to gain sympathy.... would they?

OK, pardon my sarcasm. I try hard to stay away from that when
posting here, but this letter seemed to cry out for it. The girls were
shoplifting. The store DOES have the right to detain them, AND to
search them. You stated that the greeter (sweet old lady) was the one
to pat them down, so they were careful to have an employee of the same
gender doing the searching.

I smell a bit of exaggeration here.

Regardless of the fact that they are teenage girls and regardless of
the fact that it was a $2 lipstick, IT WAS STILL THEFT.

OMG! The horror to be embarassed and humiliated for BREAKING THE LAW!
I can't imagine a worse predicament.

OK, reality check - there are signs all over Wal-Mart that say
"SHOPLIFTING IS A CRIME! It is not a prank, it's not a thrill, it't
not a game. It's a violation of the law and we prosecute to the
fullest extent of that law, SO DON'T CHANCE IT!" (or something to that
effect)

What kind of "games" did you participate in when you were "young and
foolish" that you find this type of deviant behavior permissable?? I
stuck to Space Invaders and Pac Man because my parents would have
KILLED me if I had tried to shoplift something.

Being young or foolish is not an excuse for starting off on such a bad
path at such a young age.

The protection officers were doing their job. They had no way of
knowing for certain what the girls had taken, but clearly they had
been watching them and knew they lifted something. They also had no
way of knowing if the girls were armed, so they use the same
procedures with EVERY shoplifter.

As for being hauled off to be "tortured," No, they were probably
waiting for the police to arrive and the girls' parents. Believe it
or not, it might have seemed "excessive" but if one of those "kids"
stole your wallet, you'd probably be the first one to demand they be
caned!

i ahve a strong feeling these "security" people won't have jobs much
longer if this goes too public...owell...I myself got caught trying to
steal from Kmart a LONG time ago....we got to the car, the security
guy asked if the driver was our mom, it was my friends, and we were
all asked to go back in the office where the guard explained what we
had done. They didn't press charges (thank goodness) and my friends
mom assured them that she would tell my parents...which she let me do
bu tcalled to make sure i really did tell them. I was SOOOOOOO
grounded and i'd never steal again. I learned just from almost egtting
in big trouble.

My poor brother...not so lucky. he tried to steal once and was put on
house arrest. Walmart isn't as nice as kmart....


AGGGGG sorry that had nothing to do with anything i guess... I agree
they were too forceful....there...now i'm on topic

The only good thing that has come out of this is that they will never
shoplift again. However, I doubt the store employees would have
treated a full grown adult that way. Their behavour is out of line
and hopefully they will be set straight before they act that way with
the wrong person.

Although, I love the use of sarcasm in this letter.

You know what? Those girls were terrified, being screamed and yelled
at........but I can guarantee that they will NEVER try to shoplift
anything again! You know, that is the problem with America today. So
many people nowadays are so sue-happy it's ridiculous. I refer to the
legal system nowadays as the "new Lotto". As soon as someone
perceives that some big company has done them wrong, whether real or
imagined, the first word out of their mouths is "SUE!" Does anyone
stop to consider that, yes, it may have been a $2 lipstick, but it's
AGAINST THE LAW TO STEAL ~ANYTHING~! $2 lipstick today, $20 CD
tomorrow, in a few months its $250 worth of clothing, which equals
milloins of dollars in losses for the company. Shoplifters get more
and more brazen with each success. I am happy that this potential
profit leak got stopped this soon.

I agree that stealing is wrong. Very wrong and these girls should have
been properly punished by the proper authorities. WalMart rent a cops
are not the proper authority.

Everything these individuals did was illegal AND against company
policy.

I would probably thank Wal-Mart for putting the fear of God in them.
While I don't agree with physical force, illegal searching, or abuse,
the fact of the matter is that these 2 girls were, in fact, stealing.
While I agree there probably was a less violent way to deal with this,
I'd be willing to bet that this will be the very last time these two
girls attempt to take something that doesn't belong to them.

If there were no permanent injuries then I say...lesson taught, lesson
learned. There is no excuse for these two girls stealing.

Wal-Mart should follow the rules regarding dealing with young shop
lifters however I believe they should be aggressive enough to scare
the ever living crap out of these young shoplifters.

Hopefully the girls will be ok and they've forever learned not to take
what isn't theirs.

Ok, you guys can flame me now, I just felt the need to tell you how I
would react if this happened to my children. I'm thinking my boys
would have prefered the security guard's treatment over what would
have been their fate once they arrived home! :o)